Altruism, better health drive patients to trials

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The opportunity to help others
and the possibility of improved health are two of the factors
that motivate rheumatoid arthritis patients to participate in
clinical trials, new research shows.

“Consideration of these factors may facilitate the
inclusion of more diverse patient populations into trials and
enhance the applicability of trial results,” senior author Dr.
Arthur Kavanaugh and colleagues, from the University of
California at San Diego, note in the Journal of Rheumatology.

The researchers surveyed 191 arthritis patients about the
factors that influenced their decision to take part in studies
and trials.

The average patient was 40.5 years of age and 88 percent of
the subjects were women. Fifty-seven percent of the patients
were Hispanic, 25 percent Caucasian, 12 percent Asian, and 6
percent African American. Seventy-one percent of participants
had an annual family income of less than $20,000.

The opportunity to help others was the most important
factor in deciding to participate in a trial, the report
indicates. Other factors that influenced the decision included
the possibility of improved health, early access to new
therapy, the availability of free treatments, unknown side
effects of the trial drug, and the need to stop current
therapy.

The decision-making factors for Hispanics were similar to
those of Caucasians, but a related editorial points out some
differences.

Caucasians cited unknown drug side effects and having to
stop current therapy as being potential downsides of trial
participation, whereas Hispanics identified no negative
factors, Cheryl L. Koehn, president of the Arthritis Consumer
Experts in Vancouver, Canada, noted.

She added that currently there is a shortage of Hispanics
and African Americans in arthritis clinical trials. “Until we
research the best ways to communicate information about
arthritis clinical trials to (these groups), it is unlikely
that their participation will increase to levels such that the
results from these trials will be generalizable in these
growing populations.”

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, December 2005.